Effect-based and (non-)target chemical analyses reveal concerning levels of emerging contaminants in urban streams in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Water contamination by micropollutants is a global issue, yet there is limited information from low-income regions. To address this, we evaluated surface water quality in rapidly growing Sub-Saharan area of Malawi lacking wastewater treatment. Integrated assessment of passive sample extracts representing wet and dry seasons combined effect-based approach with in vitro bioassays, target and non-target chemical analyses (NTS).

Identification of new endocrine disruptive transthyretin ligands in polluted waters using pull-down assay coupled to non-target mass spectrometry.

Surface and treated wastewater are contaminated with highly complex mixtures of micropollutants, which may cause numerous adverse effects, often mediated by endocrine disruption. However, there is limited knowledge regarding some important modes of action, such as interference with thyroid hormone (TH) regulation, and the compounds driving these effects. This study describes an effective approach for the identification of compounds with the potential to bind to transthyretin (TTR; protein distributing TH to target tissues), based on their specific separation in a pull-down assay followed by non-target analysis (NTA).

Bioanalytical and chemical characterization of organic micropollutant mixtures in long-term exposed passive samplers from the Joint Danube Survey 4: Setting a baseline for water quality monitoring.

Monitoring methodologies reflecting the long-term quality and contamination of surface waters are needed to obtain a representative picture of pollution and identify risk drivers. This study sets a baseline for characterizing chemical pollution in the Danube River using an innovative approach, combining continuous three-months use of passive sampling technology with comprehensive chemical (747 chemicals) and bioanalytical (seven in vitro bioassays) assessment during the Joint Danube Survey (JDS4). This is one of the world's largest investigative surface-water monitoring efforts in the longest river in the European Union, which water after riverbank filtration is broadly used for drinking water production.

Analysis of Mycotoxin and Secondary Metabolites in Commercial and Traditional Slovak Cheese Samples.

Cheese represents a dairy product extremely inclined to fungal growth and mycotoxin production. The growth of fungi belonging to , , , , , and genera in or on cheese leads to undesirable changes able to affect the quality of the final products. In the present investigation, a total of 68 types of commercial and traditional Slovak cheeses were analyzed to investigate the occurrence of fungal metabolites.

Genetic Diversity, Ochratoxin A and Fumonisin Profiles of Strains of Section Isolated from Dried Vine Fruits.

We investigated ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination in raisin samples purchased from Slovak markets and determined the diversity of black-spored aspergilli as potential OTA and fumonisin (FB1 and FB2) producers. The taxonomic identification was performed using sequences of the nuclear ITS1-5.8s-ITS2 region, the calmodulin and beta-tubulin genes.